Traffic is congested on the urban section of the Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon Interchange in the Seocho District of Seoul, Jan. 25. The congestion wais due to early home-bound traffic ahead of the up to nine-day Lunar New Year holiday and Friday evening commuters. Yonhap

Traffic on major highways continued to build up across South Korea on Saturday, marking the start of the Lunar New Year as people headed for their hometowns for one of the country's major traditional holidays.

This year's Lunar New Year holiday, known as Seol, has been extended to six days, lasting until Thursday, after the government designated Monday as a temporary national holiday.

As of 5 p.m., a drive from Seoul to the southeastern port city of Busan, 320 kilometers away, was expected to take approximately five hours and 10 minutes, according to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp. A trip eastward to Gangneung, some 160 kilometers from Seoul, was expected to take three hours.

Traffic congestion on outbound routes from Seoul peaked between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., and it was expected to ease around 7 p.m to 8 p.m., according to the agency.

In contrast, travel times heading toward Seoul were relatively shorter, with the drive from Busan expected to take four hours and 30 minutes, and the trip from Gangneung estimated at two hours and 40 minutes.

The agency estimated that 5.05 million vehicles would travel nationwide on Saturday, including 460,000 cars leaving the greater Seoul area and 360,000 cars heading toward it.

The agency noted that traffic on major highways was relatively smooth in both directions, adding that the traditional exodus was somewhat eased this year due to the extended holiday period. (Yonhap)